Georgia enacts restrictive electoral reform.
Critics see this as discrimination against the black population.
Biden is angry, Trump rejoices.
Atlanta - "Racism of the 21st Century".
The suppression of black voters: inside.
"Jim Crow 2.0".
The US state of Georgia has made its voting rights more restrictive and thus caused unrest.
Many see the innovations as discrimination against the black population.
President Joe Biden is appalled.
Only one is celebrating: Donald Trump.
Albeit with a downer.
The southern state of Georgia played a prominent role in the 2020 US elections *.
With a lead of only a few thousand votes, the Democrat Biden was able to win the traditionally red state for himself.
Donald Trump and loyal Republicans: inside spoke angrily of an alleged election fraud.
A tape recording * was later leaked to
the
Washington Post
in which the former US president attempted to urge the Georgian election officer, Brad Raffensperger, to change the election results afterwards.
No less than trying to manipulate the presidential election.
The Trump camp's allegations of electoral fraud were thrown out by the courts.
After the runoff elections in January 2021, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Reverend Raphael Warnock - the first black man elected by a southern state - moved to the US Senate.
Georgia was a bitter defeat for the Republican Party in the elections.
Suffrage reform in Georgia: Joe Biden won the state in the 2020 US election against Donald Trump
After the victory of the Democratic candidates in the runoff election, one person was celebrated: Stacey Abrams.
The black democrat had fought for years and meticulous work to ensure that the voices of the black community in the peach state were heard.
Many saw Ossoff and Warnock's entry into the Senate - who tipped the scales of power in favor of the Democratic Party - primarily as an achievement by Stacey Abrams.
A "groundbreaking breakthrough" was the headline of the
New York Times
at the time
.
The analysis platform "Georgia Votes" recorded a high turnout of the black electorate.
It is not an exaggeration to state that this result was important and critical to the African American population.
As a consequence of the events, local Republicans set about tightening the voting rights in Georgia.
Successfully.
The law that was passed on Thursday looks loud
According to the US media, among other things, the following changes:
Strict restrictions on submitting postal ballot papers.
The law partially shortens the opening hours of the polling stations.
The electoral board is handed over to the legislature.
It reduces the number of post boxes for votes.
It is forbidden for third parties to speak to people standing in the queue - even offering water and food will therefore be a crime in the future.
Joe Biden railed against “sick” electoral reform - Democrats fight for easier electoral access
For US President Joe Biden and many other Democrats, it is an example of modern racism.
"That has to stop.
We have a moral and constitutional obligation to act, ”said his White House press statement in Washington on Friday.
Biden also called the law a "blatant attack on the constitution" and referred to it as "Jim Crow in the 21st century." A reference to the racist law that existed until the 1960s, which massively suppressed black people.
The Republicans themselves took care of the long strikes in front of polling stations by reducing them “disproportionately in black quarters”, according to the US President.
The critics' argument: inside the electoral reform: The Republican Party wanted to reduce the votes of the black population and other minorities, as they increasingly voted for the Democrats.
The other side claims that they want to make the elections safer this way.
“It's sick.
It's sick, ”Biden said hours before Republican Governor Brian Kemp put the restrictive reform into effect.
Stacey Abrams speaks of "Jim Crow 2.0" - Joe Biden expresses horrified in a tweet about Georgia
Resistance arose on social media after the news from Georgia.
Joe Biden also spoke up via a tweet.
"The Georgia * electoral law, like so many others that Republicans have been persecuted in state houses across the country, is an obvious attack on the right to vote, the constitution and the good of conscience.
It's Jim Crow in the 21st century - and it has to end, ”wrote the US President on Friday.
Others joined him.
Stacey Abrams compared the innovation with "Jim Crow 2.0".
She commented, “A timely reminder of why we need to maintain the voting rights requirement.
A change is not possible if we are denied access to the process. "
Republican Governor Brian Kemp, on the other hand, was happy: “Today I was proud to put SB 202 into law.
By making it easy to vote and difficult to cheat, we can ensure that the elections in Georgia are safe, accessible and fair! "
Donald Trump * also spoke out in a statement saying "Congratulations to Georgia".
His downer: “Too bad these changes weren't made earlier!” The state learned from the “farce” of the 2020 presidential election.
Nationwide, the Democratic Party is fighting for easier access to the election.
The House of Representatives recently passed a reform to facilitate voting.
However, this must be approved by the US Senate at the federal level.
To do this, the Democrats would need the approval of several Republican Senators.
This is considered unlikely.
(aka) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
List of rubric lists: © Leigh Vogel via www.imago-images.de
